Page 55 of Her Protector Daddies

Ten minutes turned into twenty and then more time vanished. I remained the only person in the parking lot.

He wasn’t coming.

Just as I spun on my heel to yell to Jay that this was a bust, a screech of tires filled the air. Seconds later, a green sedan scraped into the parking lot and skidded to a stop a few feet away, with the front of the car angled toward the other alley exit.

My dad, Marcus Hartley, sat inside gripping the steering wheel and not moving.

Despite my best efforts, a warm yearning pulsed through my heart, followed by a bite of frustration. I knew he was no good. In my mind, I knew he was a terrible person and cared very little for me.

My heart never listened.

It still yearned for the father I’d grown up with, made mud pies with and raised a butterfly farm with.

No matter how much I told myself that man was gone, my heart never listened.

“Dad?” Slowly, I approached the car while keeping Tyler’s instructions in mind.

He didn’t respond. His face was pale and drawn with a bruise on one cheekbone. His complexion was gray, and his collarbone protruded more than it had done the last time we were together. Clearly he wasn’t taking care of himself.

“Dad?” I tried again, stopping a foot away from the car. “Dad!”

He flinched and finally turned to look at me, then his impassive face broke into a sad smile. “Oh, Selena!”

Something inside me snapped at the sight of that smile and my anger surged.

“What the hell? Where the fuck have you been? Huh? You asshole, you fucking ran and left me to those men! I could have died, do you know that?!”

“Selena… Selena, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, I panicked. As soon as I heard the door I knew it wasn’t good but I— I wasn’t thinking. I just had to get out of there and I was sure you could handle it.”

“Handle it?!” He wasn’t serious, was he? “What part of my upbringing or my life was supposed to prepare me for that kind of attack, Dad? Huh?”

“You’re a good kid,” he replied, his knuckles gleaming white around the wheel. “I knew you’d be fine.”

“Are you fucking serious? Does Andrés really have a reputation for going easy on good people!?”

“No, I suppose not.”

“Of course not!” My angry pacing took me away from the car and I struggled to get my thoughts in order. Anger had me pouring out all the things I wanted to say to him and ignoring the whole point of the meeting. Trying to control myself, I paced away a few feet then turned back.

Tears shone in my dad’s eyes, catching me by surprise and my heart clenched.

“Dad?”

“Matt… he’s dead. Did you know that? They killed him and I…” He sniffed wetly and dragged one hand down his face. “This is so fucked. So fucked.”

“Dad, he died because you ran. You gave Andrés time to hunt him down and kill him. You have to hand yourself in to the cops, okay? You have to hand yourself in and get the protection you need and the stuff you stole; it can help.”

“No.”

“Dad, please. I know a couple of gu?—.”

“No!”

He yelled so loudly that I flinched and my heart jumped into my throat.

“Dad… Andrés won’t leave me alone. Because of you. Because of what you did. Dad, you have to fix this!”

“Selena…” His eyes darted about the parking lot as if he was searching for any of Andrés’ men that would leap out and kill him here and now. “Get in the car.”

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